Kobe BryantFeud With MomIs Over MONEY

5/4/2013 12:00 PM PDT

Kobe Bryant -- In Feud With Mom Over Money

EXCLUSIVE

We now know why Kobe Bryant is at war with his mother ... at least from his perspective, and it has to do with money.

As we previously reported ... Kobe and mama Pamela Bryant are locked in a battle over memorabilia ... his old jerseys, varsity letters from high school, championship rings, trophies and a whole bunch of other stuff.

Pamela has taken all the stuff to an auction house, claiming he gave it all to her, and she got a $450,000 advance which she says she's using to buy a house in Nevada. Kobe contacted the auction house and said they had no right to sell any of the items because they belong to him.

Sources connected with the Bryant family tell TMZ ... the dispute between mother and son erupted over real estate. We're told Kobe offered to buy his parents a "nice house" in Vegas for significantly less than a million bucks, but they wanted something bigger and more extravagant and Kobe drew a line in the sand and refused to up the ante.

Our sources say Pamela was infuriated and believed Kobe was shortchanging them, especially compared to what he does for Vanessa's mom, Sofia Laine. Kobe put Sofia up in a $3.2 million house in Newport Beach, CA, which sold recently. After the sale, Kobe moved Sofia to another multi-million dollar mansion nearby.

From Kobe's perspective, our sources say he's really upset because he believes he's stepped up for years, by giving his parents millions of dollars and buying them homes and cars.

This feud has been brewing for years ... dating back to when Kobe's parents went ballistic when he married Vanessa without a prenup.

Kobe tweeted on Saturday morning, saying, "When u give Give GIVE and they take Take TAKE at wat point do u draw a line in the sand? #hurtbeyondmeasure #gavemenowarning #love?"